--- SIDPlayer/README 2000/07/28 12:42:28 1.1.1.1 +++ SIDPlayer/README 2004/01/12 15:15:48 1.19 @@ -1,10 +1,8 @@ - SIDPlayer, Version 4.0 + SIDPlayer + A SID tune replayer - A SID tune replayer for BeOS - - Copyright (C) 1996-2000 Christian Bauer - Freely distributable + Copyright (C) 1996-2004 Christian Bauer License @@ -17,11 +15,11 @@ See the file "COPYING" that is included What is SIDPlayer? ------------------ -SIDPlayer is a replayer program for C64 music ("SID tunes"), like PlaySID -on the Amiga or SIDPLAY for Unix. You can think of it as being a stripped- -down C64 emulator that only emulates the CPU and the sound chip of the -C64. SIDPlayer can replay SID tunes in the "PSID" file format, but it -cannot run any C64 programs. +SIDPlayer is a replayer program for C64 music ("SID tunes"), like PlaySID on +the Amiga or SIDPLAY for Unix. You can think of it as being a stripped-down +C64 emulator that only emulates the CPU and the sound chip of the C64. +SIDPlayer can replay SID tunes in the "PSID" file format, but it cannot run +any C64 programs. Why would I want to listen to C64 music? @@ -34,10 +32,10 @@ sound chip (called "SID" - "Sound Interf computers (as the Atari ST or the first Macs) had worse sound. The SID chip features three oscillators with selectable waveform, ADSR -envelope generators, programmable resonance filters and special effects -like ring modulation. With the aid of the CPU, it can also replay 4-bit -sampled sounds. SIDPlayer emulates all features of the SID chip, including -the filters. +envelope generators, programmable resonance filters and special effects like +ring modulation. With the aid of the CPU, it can also replay 4-bit sampled +sounds. SIDPlayer emulates all features of the SID chip, including the +filters. There were (and are still) many composers programming excellent music for the C64 and thousands of tunes have been converted for use with SID tune @@ -46,6 +44,18 @@ SID tunes is that they take very little in size. +System Requirements +------------------- + +SIDPlayer runs on all Unix systems supported by SDL (which includes Linux, +FreeBSD, Solaris and Irix) and on BeOS R4.5 or later versions. + +Successfully tested systems include: + - Linux/i386 + - BeOS/x86 R5 + - BeOS/ppc R5 + + Supported file formats ---------------------- @@ -54,26 +64,31 @@ files (these have the signature "PSID" i available on the Internet is in this format. -Using SIDPlayer ---------------- +Installing SIDPlayer +-------------------- + +See the file "INSTALL". + -SIDPlayer can be started from the Tracker or from the Shell. If you give -the name of a PSID file as an argument from the Shell or drag a PSID file -onto the SIDPlayer icon from the Tracker, that file is loaded and played. - -The SIDPlayer window some information about the currently loaded PSID file -and has the usual tapedeck-like controls for pausing, restarting and -stopping the replay and for selecting the next or previous song contained -in the PSID file. The number of the song currently playing and the total -number of songs in the loaded PSID file are displayed to the right of the -tapedeck buttons. The slider in the bottom right of the window can be used -to adjust the replay speed. +Using SIDPlayer under BeOS +-------------------------- -Clicking and holding the right mouse button in the SIDPlayer window will show -a pop-up menu with three items: +SIDPlayer can be started from the Tracker or from the Shell. If you give the +name of a PSID file as an argument from the Shell or drag a PSID file onto +the SIDPlayer icon from the Tracker, that file is loaded and played. + +The SIDPlayer window displays some information about the currently loaded +PSID file and has the usual tapedeck-like controls for pausing, restarting +and stopping the replay and for selecting the next or previous song +contained in the PSID file. The number of the song currently playing and the +total number of songs in the loaded PSID file are displayed to the right of +the tapedeck buttons. The slider in the bottom right of the window can be +used to adjust the replay speed. + +The SIDPlayer menu has three items: - "About SIDPlayer" shows some information about SIDPlayer - - "Sound Control" opens the sound control window + - "Sound Control" opens the sound control window (see below) - "Quit" quits SIDPlayer To load another PSID file, drag it into the SIDPlayer window. To quit @@ -88,32 +103,66 @@ Some functions of SIDPlayer can also be Right arrow: Next song Q : Quit -SIDPlayer can also be used as an input plugin for CL-Amp by Claes Löfqvist. -Simply copy the program to your CL-Amp "Plugins" directory (you have to copy -it, placing a link won't work) and rename it to "in_SIDPlayer". +Using SIDPlayer under Unix +-------------------------- + +SIDPlayer currently only works as a command line application. It is invoked +as follows: + + sidplayer FILE [song_number] + +"FILE" is the name of the PSID file to be loaded. The optional "song_number" +specifies the number of the song to be player (instead of the default song). +SIDPlayer cannot detect when a song has finished, so you have to use Ctrl-C +to quit it. + +SIDPlayer accepts a number of command line arguments. Type "sidplayer --help" +to get a list. -The Sound Control window ------------------------- +If you have a Catweasel MK3 PCI card with a SID chip installed you can +redirect the output of SIDPlayer to the card by specifying the "--cwsid on" +command line argument. Visit www.jschoenfeld.de for more information about +the Catweasel card. + + +The Sound Control window (BeOS only) +------------------------------------ + +Sound post-processing is controlled with the "Effect" pop-up menu and the +"Delay" and "Feedback" sliders. The available effects are "None" (no post- +processing), "Reverb" (simple reverb) and "Spatial" (reverb with phase +shift, intended for headphone users). The checkbox labeled "Filters" is used to turn the emulation of the SID filters on or off. -The eight slider gadgets in the right part of the window control the -stereo panning and volume of each of the four voices (3 sythesized -voices, 1 sampled voice). +The "New SID Chip" checkbox selects the type of SID chip to be emulated. +Currently this only affects some combined waveforms. + +The eight slider gadgets in the right part of the window control the stereo +panning and volume of each of the four voices (3 synthesized voices, 1 +sampled voice). Where do I get PSID files ------------------------- The two largest collections of SID tunes are the "High Voltage" SID -Collection (http://www.dhp.com/~shark/c64music) and the "NemeSIDs" -archive (ftp://frodo.hiof.no/pub/c64/sidmusic). These have been used -for testing during the development of SIDPlayer and they should all work. +Collection (http://hvsc.c64.org) and the "NemeSIDs" archive +(ftp://frodo.hiof.no/pub/c64/sidmusic). These have been used for testing +during the development of SIDPlayer and they should all work. + +Twenty demonstration SID tunes are included with SIDPlayer in the "PSID +Demo" directory. + -Twelve demonstration SID tunes are included with SIDPlayer in the -"PSID Demo" directory. +Support +------- + +Updates of SIDPlayer are available on the official SIDPlayer home page: + + http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002/SPMain.html History @@ -137,6 +186,23 @@ V4.0 - Now based on Frodo V5 CPU/SID cod faster/slower buttons by slider, added popup menu and sound control window, ported to BeOS R5 with new Media Kit, implemented CIA timer speed control, and SIDPlayer can now also be used as a CL-Amp plugin +V4.1 - Runs as a command line application under Unix (requiring SDL), + preferences items can be passed on the command line, and SIDPlayer + can now also be used as a SoundPlay plugin +V4.2 - Fixed writes to mirrored SID registers, output to WAV file is possible + in SDL version +V4.3 - Added support for Catweasel SID hardware in SDL version (use option + "--cwsid on"), CIA timer speed control now actually works +V4.4 - Fixed a problem with the wrong replay routine being called when the + IRQ vector was changed. Mastercomposer tunes (and probably others) + not play correctly. [Thanks to Stefano Tognon.] + + +Acknowledgements +---------------- + +Special thanks go to Claes Löfqvist and Marco Nelissen for their help with +adding CL-Amp and SoundPlay plugin support. Christian Bauer